Closing the Gap
by Tonkswyrda
Summary: after being dared into sneaking into the shrieking shack, Charlie and Tonks are sent back to 1976. Can they Survive the Marauders? What happens when they get involved in the mysterious killings plaguing Hogsmede?
1. Chapter 1

_Do it. Just say it. Today._

Charlie Weasley could remember exactly how he'd felt that day in his 6th year when he'd asked Nymphadora Tonks to the Halloween Ball. Sure, he was the Gryffindor Seeker, and most of his team mates saw the fact that he was crushing on a Hufflepuff as a) Pathetic, and b) a betrayal, but he couldn't care less what they thought. He'd been crushing on her since the end of his 5th year, and her 3rd, when she'd accidentally hexed him. (The Slytherin she'd been aiming for had ducked just in time.) Ever since, he'd been waiting and watching, as she went through boyfriend after boyfriend, waiting for her to be single for long enough for him to get a word in. he wasn't the only boy who had noticed how beautiful she was-a metamorphmagus too- in her own, clumsy way.  
Charlie remembered feeling nervous as he followed her into the library. He could still see her hair changing from purple to electric blue as she laughed. He remembered how he'd practically been floating when she'd told him she would love to go with him. And they'd had a great time. They'd been going out ever since. And it was great.  
Unfortunately, over time, all her hyper active clumsiness and mischief-making was getting to be too much for him. She was worse than Fred and George!

And so Charlie sat at the Gryffindor table, playing moodily with his cornflakes. Tonks had finished her O. the day before, and today was the last Hogsmede trip of the year. Charlie really didn't feel like he could take any more… he was all Tonksed out. For life. And that meant he would have to be the bad guy. He would have to break it off.

Great. Now she had two more years experience with hexing guys to hit him with…

"Charlie!"

_Speak of the devil._

Tonks bounded over to his table, sitting lithely beside him and planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Hey Tonks." He tried to sound cheerful, really, he did. But he was really starting to wish she would just leave him alone…

"Oi Tonks, hurry up, its time to go!" Tonks' friend Ellie called from the entrance hall.

"Are you coming? Or do you have Quidditch practice or something?" Tonks asked, standing. Here she was, giving him a ready made excuse to get out of it…

"No, ill come." Why did he agree? WHY? He was going to have to end this today…

Charlie followed her into the entrance hall, where she joined her cluster of equally loud friends. To his relief, Brian, Sam and Eoin were just coming down the staircase.

"Charlie! We've been looking all over for you!" Sam said, laughing at his downtrodden look.

"Your Lady been keeping you busy, eh?" Eoin muttered, nudging Charlie with his elbow.

"Oh Shut it." Charlie muttered back, scowling.

"Come on, she's not that bad. She's damn fit too." Sam said, staring at Tonks' short skirt.

"You disgust me Sam, really. I may not like it, but she's still my girlfriend. Ill have to get you for that…"

Sam stepped out of range of the punch Charlie was about to fake throw. "So break up with her already, if she annoys you that much. Then I can stare all I want." He smirked. Charlie shook his head.

"Really, Sam… its not as easy as all that."

"Sure it is." said Brian. "Just tell her you're sick of the sight of her and walk off. That's what Sam does."

"Mm, but that's how Sam gets black eyes… and didn't you end up in the hospital wing last time?"

"Maybe so, but-" they were interrupted by Filch as he ticked their names off, and Tonks walked with him as they left school, pulling his arm round her waist. Soon they were on the high street, heading to the outskirts of the village. Tonks said something loudly about playing some sort of game, but Charlie wasn't paying attention- he was thinking about how he could end this and leave with his pants intact.

"I need to talk to you." He blurted out suddenly.

"Ew Ellie, that's gross, I cant believe you did that! What did you say Charlie?"

"I need to talk to you." He repeated, pulling her away from the group as they sat on a patch of green grass.

"Okay… what about?" she smiled softly. God, her smile… shaking his head, Charlie pulled himself together.

"About us. This. It… it just isn't working, Tonks. You must have noticed, I just… I don't feel the same anymore." He hadn't been trying to sounds quite so blunt…

Her eyes widened. "I… I thought you were just stressed… with your N.E. and the final match…"

"Well yeah, I am… but this just isn't working for me, Tonks. I can't keep up with you. I just… I'm not the right guy for you."

She was unusually quiet, her hair a mousy brown, keeping her eyes on her feet. "Charlie, I don't under-"

"Oi, you two, get over here!" Ellie called from the circle where everyone else was seated. Tonks turned and ran.

Well, at least his pants were still intact. For now.

Tonks sat next to Ellie, who had conjured a glass bottle with her wand. Charlie groaned inwardly. Not truth or dare. Anything but…

Ellie spun the bottle. This was not going to be good, he could tell. It landed on Tonks. Crap.

"Truth or Dare?" Ellie asked, grinning.

She shrugged, still looking slightly defeated. "Dare, I guess."

The girls huddled round, muttering excitedly. Charlie glanced at Eoin, but he was staring intently at the girls, a smirk widening on his face. This wasn't going to be good, he could tell already.

"Okay. I dare you to go into the shrieking shack with Charlie, and snog him in there. And take your time about it too." Ellie smirked. Inwardly, Charlie groaned. No. no no no!! He couldn't go in the shrieking shack! It was haunted… and he couldn't snog Tonks either!

Tonks shrugged. "Fine." Standing and wiping the grass off her knees, she looked pointedly at Charlie.

"Oh. Right."

Standing slowly, he followed her up the grassy slope, and past the rotting picket fence to the creaking old house. He was not doing this…

When they reached the shack, Charlie pulled on the door handle. It was locked… no surprise there, what with the boarded up windows and all…

"ah well, that's a shame, time to go then!" he spun around, but Tonks grabbed his sweater sleeve.

"Don't be such a baby. It's not like its actually haunted or anything." Rolling her eyes, Tonks tapped the door handle with her wand, and dragged him inside.

"I'm not doing this." Charlie said stubbornly, pulling out of her grip. She scowled and turned away, examining the thick layer of dust that coated everything, and rose in soft clouds as they walked. Charlie walked over to a moth eaten, overturned chair that blocked the door to the hall. As he righted it, he noticed a large chunk ripped out of one of the legs. _Ghosts didn't do that…_

"Hey Tonks…"

"What?" She said irritably.

"look." He ran a hand over the wall. Huge scars ripped through the faded paper, gouging the wooden wall behind it. Bite marks surrounded the door frames, and stuffing lay scattered across the floor, spewing from the various chairs and couches in the room.

She glanced at it for a second, before turning and kicking a chunk of wood at the wall. The resounding bang shook the whole house. Charlie stiffened. If there was some sort of wild animal living here, he really hoped she hadn't just woken it up…

"Tonks, I think we should go." Charlie said nervously. This place was giving him the creeps… But Tonks just crossed her arms and leaned against the chewed doorframe.

"This is it, isn't it? After this, you'll never want anything to do with me again."

Charlie stared at her, as a small tear dribbled down her cheek. Tonks never cried.

"I…I'm sorry." He said dumbly, staring at his trainers, and kicking something shiny at his feet. It spun over to Tonks' purple chucks.

Whatever." She looked away. "I saw this coming." She said quietly. "I just thought… maybe we could… get through it… I don't know."

"I really am sorry, you know. I just don't feel the same anymore." Charlie replied just as quietly.

"Yeah. That's a shame, because you still have to snog me."

"I told you before I'm not doing this." Charlie said stubbornly.

"Oh, because it's not like we haven't gone this far before, is it? Or further." She muttered the last bit under her breath. Charlie scowled.

"Say what you want, but I don't like to go casually snogging my ex's just for dares."

Glaring at him like death, Tonks stepped forward, pulling her hand back to slap him- but then it happened. It was bound to- Tonks could hardly walk without tripping and nearly killing anyone who happened to get in her way. And now she had tripped on whatever it was that Charlie had kicked in her direction. Tonks went flying, Knocking into Charlie and taking him down with her.

Suddenly the ground lurched, spinning them round so Charlie was lying onto of Tonks, and the room darkened, swaying. Something gold glittered by Tonks' hair.

A time turner.

"Get off me, you oaf!" Tonks started hitting Charlie on the side of the head. Scowling he stood. The room was still spinning. "What the hell was that all about? I thought you broke up with me? And now you're all over me again? What the hell?" Tonks stormed at him as she pulled herself to her feet. Charlie looked around the dark room. Looking through the boarded up window, he could see the full moon shining in the sky.

"Tonks. Shut up."

"NO! You just rolled me, what the hell are you playing at? Do you think its okay to toy with me like that? Cause you are so wrong!"

"Really Tonks, SHUT UP!"

"WHY?"

Charlie merely pointed- but a soft thump behind her made her turn. A pair of amber eyes glowed at the bottom of the stairs, and a soft snarling came from the darkness. Slowly, the creature stepped into the moonlight. Tonks opened her mouth to scream, but for once, no sound came out. The werewolf advanced again, raising its head, and howled at the full moon.

**A/N: So a few of you might be thinking this sounds familiar… well, I'm deleting the old version of this, for a ton of reasons. A) It was crap writing, B) I had total writers block on it, and C) I just really don't like it, lol. So here's the new (and hopefully better!) version that I'm trying to write instead of doing NaNo. Cause I'm weird like that. But anyway, please Review, ill update with the next chapter soon, I promise! For real this time… and im really sorry if youre waiting for updates on other stories of mine, but November is a really hectic month for me. I have my exams that count for uni entrance, and my mums on crack down about studying. Hopefully ill update my other fics over the summer holidays (which is Christmas here for those of you on the other side of the world) but don't hold your breath, ive got plans. So, cheers for reading this long and pretty pointless authors note, and really, please do leave a review. There might even be a cookie in it for you. You never know…**


	2. Chapter 2

Tonks couldn't help it. Finally, she screamed.  
The Werewolf cocked its head, looking at her and advancing slowly and silently on padded paws. Tonks couldn't move, and neither could Charlie. She felt as if she were glued to the ground- Charlie was transfixed with horror as the beast came closer still. Tonks had slowly begun to move, backing up to the old wall-  
The werewolf leaped.  
Tonks was knocked to the ground, screaming as the creature skidded over her, turning back to spring again-

Another loud growl came from the staircase.

A huge black dog threw itself at the werewolf from the balcony upstairs, barking madly as it pinned the howling wolf down. There was a clatter as a huge stag galloped down the stairs, skidding to a halt in front of Charlie.

Snapping out of his useless state of horror, Charlie dragged a petrified Tonks to her feet, throwing her on the stags back, and pulling himself on behind. The creature instantly ran down a narrow stone tunnel, leaving the howls of the wolf behind it. Tonks turned to stare at Charlie, her face still frightened. He only pushed her head down so she didn't knock it on the roof of the tunnel. Slowly, a patch of light appeared… and then they were bursting through it, into the cool night air, the grounds of Hogwarts illuminated by the moon. Charlie turned to see where they had come from, only to see the whomping willow, its branches floating like seaweed in water.

The large stag sat down, and Charlie jumped off. Tonks sat there, still stunned. He had to pull her off- again.

Her eyes opened even wider as she gawped at the stag. It was changing. Suddenly, in its place sat a boy of around her own age, with messy black hair and brown eyes staring seriously out at her from behind round glasses.

"Are you mental?!" he asked her. She just stared.

"That… werewolf… you…"

"Will she be okay?" The boy directed his question to Charlie now, who shrugged.

"Why the hell is there a werewolf in the shrieking shack?" Tonks yelled, losing it slightly. The boy just shrugged, taking in her short skirt, purple t-shirt, electric blue hair, and purple chucks.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Tonks asked, suddenly very aware that it was cold, and that her skirt seemed a lot shorter than before…

The boy just shrugged vaguely. "What were you doing in there anyway? How did you get past the willow? I mean, are you even from here, cause I don't recognise you…" he looked back at her blue hair.

"Of course we're from here." Tonks snapped. "And we came in from Hogsmede, not through the willow! I didn't even know you could get through there!"

"So what were you doing in Hogsmede?" The boy demanded, ruffling his hair. "The last trip was two weeks ago, and someone would have noticed if you'd been missing since then!"

"Now you're just being dumb." Charlie cut across. "There was a trip today, we just got to Hogsmede an hour ago." He crossed his arms, glaring huffily.

"But its dark." Tonks pointed out. "It wasn't dark when we were in the shack until…"

"That's what happens at night. It goes all dark." The boy said sarcastically. Tonks frowned.

"You look familiar." She told him, standing up and brushing off her skirt. The boy stood too.

"Only familiar? You don't come to Quidditch matches at all, do you?"

"Of course I do!" Tonks retorted. "Charlie's the Gryffindor seeker, you know."

"Uh, no he's not. I am."

"That's ridiculous. You cant both be, and Charlie is definitely seeker."

"I am." Charlie pitched in, frowning.

"No you're not!! Ask anyone, James Potter is the Gryffindor seeker! ME!"

"No way, I'm-"

"Hold up, did you just say you're James Potter?" Tonks cut across Charlie as he started arguing.

"Duh. Who else would I be?"

"With an attitude like that? No one." Tonks said snarkily, before turning to Charlie, her face worried. "Crap. Crap crap bloody Merlin crap."

"No way. That is not possible." Charlie shook his head.

"But it must be!" Tonks cried. "James Potter is de-" she bit her lip. "Err… definitely not at school with us!"

"Huh?" Charlie gaped at her, lost.

"Never mind… err… what's the date today?"

"12th of May, 1976."

"12th of May, 1988."

"Bloody Hell. Merlin."

Charlie stared at James, then at Tonks. "Ooooh dear. We've gone back 12 years, haven't we?"

Tonks nodded.

"Well, this is all your fault! You kicked that bloody time turner!"

"Me!?" Tonks screeched. "ME? This is not my fault! None of this would have happened if you hadn't dumped me, arsehole!"

"Hey, its not my fault you're so horribly annoying and-"

"I hate to interrupt, really I do, but am I hearing you right? You guys are from the future?" James asked in awe.

"Yes." Tonks said, her jaw clenched. "No if you don't mind shutting up, I need to punch Charlie in the face."

"Cause that's going to fix everything," Charlie mocked, rolling his eyes.

SLAP! Charlie reeled back as her hand flew across his face.

"Maybe not, but I feel better now." Tonks glared at him.

"Nicely done." James said appreciatively. "Its nice not to be on the receiving end for once."

Tonks turned to glare at him. "You can have one too, if you keep talking. I am not impressed right now…"

"Hey Prongs!" another figure emerged from the darkness, strolling over casually. "What's happening? I left Moony with Wormtail, he should be right till tomorrow… who are you?" He turned to Tonks, who was still fuming, to Charlie, who was looking extremely put out.

"Yeah, who are you? I know he's Charlie…" James piped up.

"Im Tonks. And he's Charlie Weasley."

"Don't you have a last name?" James asked. Tonks rolled her eyes.

"Tonks is my last name, dimwit. My first name is just too horrible to use."

"Oh come off, it can't be that bad! My cousin married a Tonks, Her kids name's Nymphadora, I mean come on, how bloody weird is that?"

"Yeah, that would be my first name. although, if your cousin is my mum… you're Sirius… or Regulus, but I doubt that, he wasn't really a fan of mum…" Tonks started muttering to herself more than them, frowning at Sirius, who was nodding, eyebrows raised.

"She says they're from _the future_" James whispered to Sirius.

"Woah. That's freaky… but I mean, it must be true, yea, cause how many Nymphadora's are there?"

"I know… its just… its so weird, and like how the heck does that even work? Dumbledore better be able to send them back…"

"Err, you know we can hear everything you say, right?" Charlie muttered angrily, still rubbing his cheek.

"huh?" Sirius turned, before returning to his conversation with James. Tonks sided closer to Charlie.

"You do realise who that is, right?" she muttered.

"What do you mean?" Charlie whispered back, eyeing the two boys disapprovingly.

"He's Sirius Black is what I mean! He's going to betray James and Lily to Voldemort!" Tonks hissed.

"Oh. Right. Isn't there any way we can stop him?"

Tonks shook her head. "I don't think we should let on about anything… I mean, not to them, at least. Maybe to Dumbledore… but changing time… its dangerous."

"agreed. So we keep our mouths shut. Are you sure you can manage?" Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I can!" Tonks snapped.

"SO do you guys have any idea as to how you can get back? Or do you want to hang round and see Dumbledore at a slightly more decent hour?" James called.

"I think we should wait to see Dumbledore…" Tonks said, glancing at Charlie, who nodded.

"Right. Well, now that's settled, we need to sneak you into the castle somehow…" Sirius frowned.

"What's wrong with going through the front doors?" Charlie asked. The other three all rolled their eyes.

"They're locked." Said Sirius, sniggering.

"And Filch… you know…" Tonks cut across.

"Oh. So how are we going to get in then?" Charlie asked.

James shrugged. "we're usually out the whole night with-" Sirius elbowed him in the ribs.

Tonks raised an eyebrow when he stopped. "With your werewolf friend, right? Whatever. I can't believe none of you have had to sneak back in before…" Shaking her head, Tonks headed towards the green houses. Shrugging, the boys followed her.

Quickly, she slipped behind green house number three, dodging the vines of the venomous tentacular. Pushing one foot against the glass, and pulling herself up with the pipe on the castle wall, she pulled her other foot onto the wall until she was high enough to jimmy open one of the small windows, and pushed herself through. Her head poked back out as she looked down at the boys.

"Well hurry up! I hope none of you were looking up my skirt, or you're in for it."

Slowly James, Sirius and Charlie made it through the window, meeting an impatient Tonks, who lead them along the silent corridors. They all kept a look out for Filch or Mrs Norris, but they met no one as they arrived at a blank stretch of wall, with a tapestry of dancing trolls to one side.

"What the hell are we doing here?" Sirius whispered loudly. Tonks just shook her head, pacing the small corridor, until suddenly, on her third turn, a door appeared in the wall.

"Cool!" James said loudly.

"SHHH!!"

Tonks pulled the door open, ushering them in.

"Where are we?" James said, waiting till the door was closed.

"The room of requirement." Tonks answered. "I stumbled across it in my third year, I really needed the loo."

Sirius sniggered. Tonks rolled her eyes.

"Its unplottable too, which is pretty handy. We can hang out here until morning." Tonks sat in a big armchair, and an empty grate burst into flames.

"I cant believe we didn't know about this place, Prongs! Add it to the list now though, courtesy of wee Nymphie." Sirius grinned at Tonks as she glared back.

"It's Tonks."

"Yeah, well, the cute little version of you is Nymphie. So it sticks." Sirius retorted, collapsing onto a deep red couch.

"This blows already." Tonks muttered under her breath, angling her chair away from the boys and glaring. Charlie had dumped her, Sirius was treating her like a three year old, and James… well, he was being his usual, arrogant self.

"So whats up with the whole werewolf thing?" Charlie asked casually. Leaning backwards slightly, Tonks listened in.

"You have to swear not to tell any one, not even Dumbledore!" James said quickly. "I mean, he knows Remus is a werewolf, but we're… kind of… illegal animaguses. So you can not tell him you found us last night. Youll just have to say you arrived this morning, and we found you when we went to meet him or something. Dumbledore knows we do that sometimes."

"So he gets locked in an old shack once a month to transform?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah. I know it sounds crap, but it's the only way he could come to school at all. And we've been animagi for a few months now, so he doesn't have to do it alone anymore. He's much better for it, too." Sirius told them.

"Remus is a werewolf? That thing that almost killed me… was Remus? Remus as in Moony? Remmy?" Tonks stuck her head over the back of the chair, her mouth open.

James sniggered. "Remmy…" Sirius elbowed him, shutting him up.

"Yeah, he is. You got a problem with that, little cousin?" Suddenly, he was staring daggers at her. She shrunk back into her chair.

"No, of course I don't… I'm just surprised is all. And I mean, I'm not really in the position to judge, what with being ousted from mums family and all."

"Exactly." Sirius said with relish.

Tonks rolled her eyes, muttering to herself, "You're one to talk, you conceited arse. Look what you're going to do to your best friend!" Luckily, no one heard her, as James had tactfully moved the subject away from Remus, and onto Quidditch. Curling up in her chair, Tonks tried to fall asleep. When you went overseas and got jetlag, you were supposed to try and adjust to the time zone as quickly as possible, she knew. But she couldn't get the picture of that huge beast- Remus- skidding over her, eyes fixed, about to bite…

The boys fell asleep quickly, snoring loudly. But she kept reliving that moment, over and over, where Charlie had been useless. Slowly, she started thinking back to all the times she'd seen Remus in her childhood, piecing together the puzzle. But he had never been angry or brash with her. He had always been the nicest of them all. And maybe this was why.

**A/N: oh, wow!!! look at that, i actually updated!!!! are you amazed? i am. sorry, i know i suck at updating. honestly, now im back in the flow of things, and its my summer holidays, ill try and update more reguarly. as in not say in a few days and it happens in a few months. sorry about that. If you review, theres a really BIG plate of brownies over there... *points***


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